Thursday, September 4, 2014

Photos and photoshopping

Time for a bold step in my art career: I decided to enter some photos in a juried art show. I've been taking photos seriously for several years and posting them on my blogs but until a couple of months ago had never printed any of them out on paper. When I did so, I thought they looked pretty good, and realized that when a digital image becomes an object it takes on a new life.

This show, in a museum that is practically on the banks of the Ohio River, has a river theme so I went through my bazillions of images and found some river photos that I thought were decent, then begged my friends Keith and Suzi to look at them and give me a second opinion. Although I'm pretty good at evaluating and "curating" my own work when it comes to fiber, I haven't yet developed that eye for my photos.

We came up with three photos that played well together, with similar palette and lines and a repeated theme of railings and structures contrasting with the ripples of the water.

And then Keith, sitting at his own computer, couldn't resist opening Photoshop and improving two of the images a little bit. What a difference!

straight from the camera

improved

straight from the camera

improved

Although we fooled around a bit with changing the cool tones to warm, we stuck with the original for the entry.

I'll let you know if any of the photos are accepted. Meanwhile, I obviously need to move "learn Photoshop" higher up my to-do list.

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Kathleen Loomis

About me

I make abstract art -- usually with a needle but sometimes with a pen, brush or camera, scissors and glue, pliers and wirecutters, whatever is there. I have a husband, two sons, seven sewing machines, a big messy studio and lots of other people's art. Life is good!